Behavior of aramid fiber/ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber hybrid composites under Charpy impact and ballistic impact

The aramid fiber/UHMWPE (ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene) fiber hybrid composites (AF/DF) were manufactured. By Charpy impact, the low velocity impact behavior of AF/DF composites was studied. And the high velocity impact behavior under ballistic impact was also investigated. The influence of hybrid ratio on the performances of low velocity impact and high velocity impact was analyzed, and hybrid structures with good impact properties under low velocity impact and high velocity impact were optimized. For Charpy impact, the maximal impact load increased with the accretion of the AF layers for AF/DF hybrid composites. The total impact power was reduced with the decrease of DF layers and the delamination could result in the increase of total impact power. For ballistic impact, the performance of the DF composite was better than that of the AF composite and the hybrid ratio had a crucial influence. The failure morphologies of the AF/DF hybrid composite under Charpy impact and ballistic impact were analyzed. The AF/DF hybrid composite with a suitable hybrid ratio could attain a better performance than the pure AF or DF composites.